At the center of granulomas are eggs; some containing a developing
miracidium and others are empty eggshells.
The author would like to thank Professor David Dunne, Schistosomiasis Research Group, University of Cambridge, UK (Schistosomule, ova and granuloma) and Professor Alan Wilson, Department of Biology, University of York, UK (
miracidium) for permission to reproduce their photographs, which are subject to their own copyright.
Adult worms release eggs that are shed in the bird's feces and upon immersion in water, a
miracidium emerges.
During the survey, the Kato-Katz technique and the
miracidium hatching test were used for fecal examination.
The eggs undergo a slow development involving a dispersing phase during 10 days before reaching the
miracidium stage that infects molluscs.
When temperature and moisture conditions are right, the "
miracidium" (a free-swimming larva) hatches from the egg and must locate a snail within a few hours.
On exposure to water, the eggs hatch and liberate a
miracidium that infects a suitable molluscan intermediate host.
The microscopic examination of nasal washings revealed boomerang shaped eggs with terminal spine and fully developed
miracidium inside (Fig.
The larval stage, known as
miracidium, is hatched from the egg in the water and enters the snail host.
Miracidium The larve that emerges from the egg in trematodes.
Praziquantel only kills adult worms and does not inactivate schistosomules, nor the
miracidium inside the eggs, which will continue to elicit a damaging immunologic response for some time.